Closing the loop

It has been brought to my attention that you have published on your website from an internal National Geographic communication about accessing an employee meeting to be held today at the Society. These are regular meetings that management has with our employees to discuss future directions, strategy and on going events, much of which is confidential, proprietary and could be of interest to our competitors, which could of course harm the Society. Accordingly, we have made certain adjustments to limit access to this meeting to just Society employees. We trust you understand the need for such internal meetings with Society employees. We appreciate your continuing interest.

First, please accept my apologies if my plan to liveblog the “all hands” meeting created a problem for you in sharing the webcast in-house. That was certainly not my intention. My goal is to help our Society find solutions to the serious challenges we face — even if that means highlighting our trouble spots. (You can’t fix a roof unless you know where it’s leaking.)

Second, I’m obviously disappointed you closed the webcast. I figured that putting the meeting on Livestream without password protection meant you were finally opening our Society’s doors a bit — something you know I’ve been nudging NGS to do for a very long time. (I shared some of these same ideas with you when we had coffee back in 2006.) I guess I took John Caldwell, NG’s President of Digital Media, seriously when he said:

“All media is social in the current climate and media-consumption culture,” said Caldwell. “National Geographic is an inherently social company….”

An “inherently social company” should be opening doors, not closing them — don’t you think?

Third, you mentioned that sharing information from John’s “all hands” meeting might pose a strategic risk that could harm NGS. Please know that I only want National Geographic to grow and prosper. That’s what Society Matters is all about: Imagining a better future for our Society — and our society.

But I’ve sat through many such meetings with John, and he’s never shared anything that would remotely pose such a risk — and I think you must know this. Why else would you approve yesterday’s password-protected webcast which posted live public thumbnails of the meeting, complete with Powerpoint slides, for all the world to see? {click to enlarge}

[Ed. note: Again, these thumbnails were public — visible to anyone in the world who visited Livestream.com during the NGS meeting.]

You certainly would not have webcast these images if they contained any Big Secrets. And, best I can tell, they don’t. (There is, however, an editorial problem: You might tell Melina that “Exploiting a Market Opportunity” isn’t the best choice of words when talking about our kids.)

As you know, my biggest fear is a very different risk, namely: What our Society is actually doing — or not doing — out in the open, day after day, for all the world to see:

I believe we are in an excellent position to embrace the new technologies and be one of the most vital and loved brands on a worldwide basis for many years to come.

If John truly believes this, then why don’t you encourage him to share his vision with the world? He’s a smart, charismatic guy. Why keep him — and all the talented people who work at National Geographic — huddled behind a password-protected firewall? Given the freedom to speak honestly and openly, the staff — and everyone out here who wants only the best for NGS — just might surprise you, and help chart a sustainable future for our Society.

In a world where media is increasingly social, our old tag line says it best: Join the Adventure! 🙂

Would you join us? If so, please give this interview request a 'thumbs up':

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About

Hi. I'm Alan Mairson. I'm a freelance journalist based in Bethesda, Maryland; a former staff writer & editor for National Geographic magazine; and a member & lifelong fan of the National Geographic Society. For details about this project, please check out our inaugural post. For more about my advisers & me, see this. To feel the tight financial grip that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation exerts on the National Geographic Society, peek at these tax returns. And if you'd like to share ideas, questions, or suggestions — or if you just want to heckle :-) — please contact me here. Thanks for stopping by.